Radiochemistry is concerned with how to use radioisotopes for chemical, physical or medical studies. The current projects are:

The study of both photosynthesis and photorespiration using 11CO2 (Fig. 3). This project is a collaboration with Jake Schaefer and uses solid-state NMR and mass spectrometry.

Production of radioisotopes for medical imaging and other radiotracer studies. This work, carried out with Suzanne Lapi in Radiology, uses the three cyclotrons (see Fig. 4) at the WU school of medicine (www.wustlisotopes.com ). We are particularly interested in the development of novel isotopes for Positron Emission Tomography (PET, see Fig. 5), a tool for medical imaging developed at WU. Future efforts in this area will include isotope harvesting at the national Facility for Rare Isotope Beams – FRIB.

Development of radiopharmaceuticals for PET. Our group also seeks to develop tumor targeting agents for imaging cancer biology noninvasively. For more about these projects please see www.lapilab.com.